The Letter
by LordKim
Summary: When Frodo receives a short message from his Uncle Bilbo requesting his coming to Rivendell, he and Sam plan to travel to the Elven city to see what Bilbo has in store for them. No slash or language.
1. Message from Rivendell

Disclaimer: I own none of the Lord of the Rings characters. Thanks

* * *

Frodo sat there, staring into the fire, in a daze. Suddenly, a sharp knock came at the door.

"Mr. Frodo? Are you in there?" Sam's voice called from outside.

Frodo jumped at the knock on the door and hurried to open it for Sam. "Hello, Sam," Frodo greeted his friend with a warm smile. "And what brings you here today?"

"Oh, just coming over for a visit. Someone has to check up on you, you know," Sam replied. "And perhaps to have some tea, if you don't mind, that is."

"Yes, of course, tea!" Frodo said, and hurried to the kitchen. He and Sam sat down at an old table, and Frodo poured a steaming hot cup of tea for both of them. "I have received a letter from Bilbo," Frodo told Sam as they sipped their warm drink. "And it seems to me that he wants me to go to Rivendell as soon as possible."

"Rivendell?" Sam asked. "What would make him want you there?"

"I don't know," Frodo admitted. "I have been pondering over it for the past two days, and I am planning on leaving tonight. I just wanted you to know, so you wouldn't worry if you found me gone."

"Then I'll go with you!" Sam suggested.

"No, you really don't have to. You should probably stay here with Rosie," Frodo began to argue.

"Frodo, I'm going with you because I want to," Sam insisted. "I'm coming along and that's that."

"Oh, Sam, you'd go anywhere with me, wouldn't you?" Frodo asked, admiring his loyal friend.

"Just about!" Sam replied with a grin. "Let's see we'll need a blanket or two and some…"

The next few hours were spent gathering their needed supplies, and before they knew it, they were ready for their week long journey to Rivendell. As the sun was just beginning to set that night, the two hobbits set out on the much-treaded path from Bag End.

"There's Merry and Pippin!" Sam pointed out as they approached them.

"Why, hello, Frodo and Sam!" Pippin greeted them. "Off on yet another adventure?"

"Not entirely," Frodo said. "We are making for Rivendell. Bilbo sent me a letter, asking that I go there at once."

"Well, do wait for us!" Merry exclaimed.

"Yes, we're coming, too!" Pippin shouted, already half way back to his hobbit-hole.

The two mischievous hobbits scurried back to their homes, and within minutes, Merry and Pippin could be seen hurrying to where Frodo and Sam stood waiting for them.

"And look, we've brought plenty of mushrooms!" Pippin announced happily; and lifted a large, brown sack for Frodo and Sam to see.

"Well, that is a good thing," Sam replied, laughing softly.

"We had best be on our way," Frodo said.

"You have Sting with you?" Merry asked, suddenly noticing the sword at Frodo's side. "Are you expecting danger?"

"One might never know what he may encounter during his travels," Frodo replied. "It's just a precaution. I have others that you may use if the need arises."

"Well, I hope it doesn't!" Pippin exclaimed.

"So do I," Frodo said. "So do I."

And without another word, the foursome began their long hike to Rivendell, and an adventure that they would never forget for the rest of their years.

"Can we rest here, please?" Pippin pleaded. "I think my legs might collapse if I take a single step more! I do not see the need to press on any further tonight."

"Yes!" Merry agreed heartily. "We have traveled far enough for the night."

"If we must," Frodo gave in, but he felt that they should keep going.

Merry and Pippin happily set up camp, and Sam pulled Frodo aside. "Why do you want to keep going? I can tell that you did not truly want to stop. What's going on?" Sam questioned him.

"I feel that I am urgently needed there. In Rivendell, I mean. I think that Bilbo may need our help," Frodo replied softly. "We will leave first thing in the morning. Now let's get some sleep."

"Yes, Mr. Frodo," Sam obeyed, and the four hobbits huddled by their small fire, all but Frodo quickly falling asleep.

Frodo tossed and turned for some time before he finally fell asleep and when he did, he had dreams of Bilbo in terrible danger. That Bilbo was looking for, even begging Frodo to help him, and finding that he wasn't there. He woke up, sweat trickling down his forehead, despite the cold crisp in the early morning air.

"Mr. Frodo, what's wrong?" asked Sam, who had been awake for about an hour, and hurried to his master's side.

"Nothing," Frodo answered, "Just a dream."

"Well, we should get going, don't you think?" Sam said.

"Yes, of course," Frodo replied. "Wake Merry and Pippin. We must be off soon."

Sam obediently woke the other two hobbits, who were not exactly thrilled at being awakened.

"But I was having such a wonderful dream!" Pippin complained. "We were sitting around a huge table, piled with food. A gigantic feast it was, and just about to begin eating mushrooms!"

Merry was no happier at being aroused. "Must we leave so early?" he asked with a yawn.

"Yes," Frodo replied. "We must."

"Come on now!" Sam said, "Don't question Frodo; he knows what he's doing. Get up and help us pack our things back together."

Merry and Pippin slowly rose to their feet and began to help the others in getting prepared to leave. About a half an hour later, the four hobbits were back on the road. A few more days they went on, Frodo hurrying them on so much that the trek that should have taken them a week or more, ended up taking them only five! When they arrived at Rivendell, they were in for a surprise…

They walked through the beautifully carved gates of Rivendell shortly before sunset, and there, Arwen greeted the group of hobbits. "Come," she said. "They are waiting for you."

'_Who are they?'_ the four hobbits all wondered at once. _'We came here to meet only one, Bilbo.'_

They followed Arwen through a long hall, which led to an elaborate room with a high ceiling. When they entered the room, they found that Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were the ones who had been waiting for them. Thrilled to see them, the hobbits cried out in glee and hurried to embrace their old friends.

"Where's Bilbo?" Frodo asked curiously after the excitement had worn off a little.

The trio simply looked at each other for a moment.

"That is why we are here," Aragorn finally replied. "Bilbo is gone. He's disappeared, along with Elrond."

"Gone!" Frodo cried. "What do you mean?"

"Just what he said," Legolas told them. "Three nights ago, an army of Orcs invaded Rivendell unexpectedly, some bearing the white hand of Saruman, and…"

"Saruman!" Merry interrupted. "Doesn't he ever quit? We have better things we could be doing besides running after him constantly!"

"Like eating mushrooms," Pippin said dreamily.

'_Doesn't he ever think of anything but mushrooms?' _Sam wondered with a sigh.

"As I was saying, some of the Orcs bore the white hand of Saruman, while others bore a black arrow. The owner of the black arrow mark is still unknown," Legolas continued.

"And you think that Bilbo and Elrond were taken captive by these Orcs?" Frodo asked, shivering at the mere thought of being with those creatures.

"Yes, of course," Gimli replied. "Why else would they suddenly disappear without letting anyone know where they were going?"

Frodo sighed. "I knew we should have gotten here quicker!" he exclaimed in exasperation. "We may have been able to help them!"

"Now Mr. Frodo, you can't blame yourself," Sam said. "We got here as quickly as we could. Even faster than we thought we could!"

"Sam's right, you know," Merry put in.

"I suppose you're right," Frodo admitted.

"Well, what do we do now?" Pippin asked.

"Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are going to Isengard to find Saruman and, hopefully, our friends," Arwen said, who had been quiet up until now. "They waited for you, knowing that you would not be pleased if you were left behind in the quest."

"You were right," Frodo said, glad that they had waited the day for them. "Thank you. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow at dawn," Aragorn replied. "Now get some rest."


	2. Attacked in the Dark

Arwen led them to another room. Instead of being extravagant, this one was small and cozy, just the way the hobbits liked it. There were four feather-stuffed, hobbit-sized beds there waiting for them, two on each opposite side of the room. Arwen wished them a good night; then left the room.

Merry and Pippin flung themselves on the comfortable mattresses immediately and were fast asleep within minutes. Frodo and Sam washed up in the small bathroom connected to their room; then proceeded to snuggle into their own beds. It did not take long for them to fall asleep either; they were all exhausted from being pushed so hard to make it to Rivendell.

The next morning the Hobbits were feeling refreshed, despite their early rising. They gathered their few things and prepared to leave for Isengard.

"Are you ready, Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked.

"Yes, Sam," he replied with a smile, throwing his pack over his shoulder. "Let's go."

They hurried outside to where Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were waiting for them.

"Namarie and good luck," Arwen bid them, after a few words had been exchanged. Then the group of seven trudged along the grassy trail, through the gates of Rivendell, and set out for Isengard.

"We will rest here for the night," Aragorn told them.

"Finally!" Merry exclaimed. "I need something to eat!"

"I have mushrooms!" Pippin announced happily.

"He's hopeless!" Sam said quietly to Frodo, who laughed and agreed.

They quietly cooked their meal and ate it together. As the darkness of night grew, one by one they began to huddle around the fire and fell fast asleep.

"Come on, get up!" Aragorn said.

"All right, all right," Pippin consented, but only rolled over on his side.

'_Not again!'_ Aragorn thought, _'Pippin hasn't changed a bit!'_

"Legolas, get him up," he said.

"No problem," Legolas agreed with a grin and dumped a bucket of cold water on Pippin.

"Hey!" he yelled.

"He told me to!" Legolas said, pointing at Aragorn.

Pippin scowled, but got up, while the rest of their party laughed.

"Come hobbits, we have a long, rough journey ahead of us before we reach Isengard," Gimli said.

The Hobbits quickly gathered their things and headed off behind their friends. The fellowship of seven continued on their journey, and three days later, they found strange tracks and markings in the ground.

"Who, or what, made these?" Frodo asked.

"I don't know," Aragorn admitted, bending down further to examine the tracks more closely.

"I do not like this place," Legolas said, "Evil is here… I can feel it."

"We will go on until we find a suitable resting place," Aragorn decided, "It will soon be dark; we will not be able to go much further."

They soon came upon a nice, grassy place to stop and began to set up camp. After they ate, they lay down for the night. Legolas was reluctant at first to go to sleep, but he soon ignored his feelings of warning, and was fast asleep like the others.

'_What was that?' _Frodo wondered as he sat up.

Then he heard another noise and stood up, quietly taking Sting out of its sheath. Glancing at the blade, Frodo noticed that it was faintly glowing blue. He cautiously took a few steps towards a group of bushes and looked around. He saw nothing and decided to venture out a little further. Before he knew what was happening, something jumped on his back and he fell to the ground. Frodo stabbed at the creature with Sting and finally hit his mark.

He stood up and discovered that it was a huge spider that had attacked him. He breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the evil creature was dead. Suddenly, he heard the crack of a twig and whirled around. To his horror, there were many more of these giant spiders and, while he had been fighting off the first of them, they had encircled him.

"Help, Aragorn!" Frodo cried.

The call awoke Aragorn almost instantly. "Frodo!" Aragorn cried in alarm and rushed forward to help him.

By this time, the rest of their party had been awoken. "What's all this racket about?" Pippin asked, still half asleep.

"Get up!" cried Sam, "Frodo needs our help!" And he rushed off, stabbing at the spiders angrily.

Slowly they managed to push the spiders back, until they finally retreated.

"I'm glad that's over!" Merry exclaimed.

"Are you ok, Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked anxiously.

"Yes, Sam," he replied, "I'm fine."

"Can I go back to bed now?" Pippin asked, tired once again.

They all laughed. "Yes, Pippin, you can go back to bed now," Aragorn said and ruffled his hair.

Soon they had all settled down for the night for the second time. "I had fifteen. How many did you have?" Gimli asked Legolas, feeling quite proud of that amount.

"You only killed fifteen?" Legolas asked in surprise. "I had twenty-three!"

Gimli grunted angrily; rolled on his side, putting his back to Legolas; and went to sleep.


	3. An Old Friend

The group had been walking along for about an hour when they heard what sounded like footsteps. Freezing instantly, Aragorn and the hobbits cautiously drew out their swords, while Legolas armed his bow, and Gimli readied his ax.

"My, my, what a surprise!" said a voice, and around the corner came Gandalf.

"Gandalf! It's wonderful to see you again!" Frodo cried.

"What brings you out here?" Gandalf asked the group as he walked along with them.

"We're heading for Isengard," Aragorn explained. "We fear that Bilbo and Elrond have been taken captive by Saruman."

"Saruman. Will he ever learn his lesson? I will join your party; with your leave, of course; and help you find them," Gandalf offered.

"Of course, you may come with us!" Aragorn said, which put smiles on the hobbits' faces.

"Let's pick up the pace," Gimli suggested, which they did at once.

* * *

"Where am I?" Bilbo asked himself, awakening from a long sleep due to a strange liquid Orcs had forced them to drink.

"I don't know where we are," Elrond replied, already awake and overhearing him.

Suddenly they heard a door clang, and light came in to the cold, dark room where they were.

"Enjoy your meal!" an Orc said jokingly as he roughly dropped an old wooden tray with two stale pieces of bread and glasses of water on the dirt floor and left.

"My, that looks simply scrumptious!" Bilbo said sarcastically.

"Yes, I would have to agree with you there," Elrond said. "But it is better than nothing."

"I suppose you're right," Bilbo agreed, and they ate their "meal".

* * *

Three days after meeting up with Gandalf, the company decided to send Pippin up a tree to see if he could spot any sign of Isengard being near.

"Do you see anything?" Frodo called up.

"Yes," Pippin replied. "We are very close! No more than a two hour walk is my guess."

"Wonderful!" Aragorn cried; and, once Pippin returned from the tree, they set off at an even quicker pace.

"I can see bits of Orthanc through the trees," Legolas said about an hour later.

"Then we must continue on very carefully," Gandalf warned. "Who knows what in Middle-Earth Saruman has planned this time!"

"Well, it looks to me as if he has another Orc army," Aragorn said, stooping over large tracks.

"Yes, I feared that he would," Gandalf agreed.

* * *

"So we're in Orthanc!" Bilbo said, who had been listening to Orcs talk outside the door of the room. "How long do you think we've been gone?"

"I am not certain, but my guess would be about a week and a half, knowing that it is about a week's journey just to get to Isengard from our home," Elrond replied.

He was almost exactly right in his guess. It had been ten days since the Orcs had captured them in Rivendell.

"I wonder if Frodo has received my letter," Bilbo said. "I sent him one a few days before we were taken. I feared that something evil was going to happen soon, though I couldn't explain what or why. I asked him to come to Rivendell, thinking that he could help me if anything did happen."

"You sent him a letter?" Elrond said, brightening a bit.

"Yes. Yes, I did," Bilbo replied.

"Well he most likely has received it, and he probably came to Rivendell right away! He could be coming here as we speak!" Elrond said.

In fact, at that very moment, Aragorn was stooping over the Orc tracks within sight of Orthanc.

About half an hour later, they again heard the clanging of the door to their prison.

"Are you enjoying your stay here?" Saruman asked smugly.

"Oh yes, very much so!" Bilbo replied sarcastically and with a glare.

"Glad to hear it," Saruman said with an evil grin.

"What do you want from us?" Elrond asked angrily.

"What do I want from you? I'll tell you what I want," Saruman replied, leaning into Elrond's face. "I want revenge. Not only on you, but on everyone that opposed me." Then he looked at Bilbo and said, "Especially on that filthy little Halfling you call your nephew and your friend Gandalf the fool. Everything would have gone fine if it hadn't been for them!"

"Well, I personally am quite glad everything didn't go 'fine' for you," Bilbo said, a comment that Saruman answered with a glare.

"But this time it will," he replied, "I have you for bait and the fish will soon bite."

And with that, Saruman left them to ponder what he had said.

"I suppose that means that they're coming for us, and he knows it," Elrond said.

"Yes," Bilbo agreed. "But I do hope that Frodo and whoever is with him are safe."

"I'm sure that they are," Elrond said, trying to comfort Bilbo even though he wasn't too sure to believe what he was saying or not. "He probably has Gandalf with him."

"Yes, you're most likely right," Bilbo replied, brightening a bit at the thought of Frodo having the wizard with him. Then the hobbit curled up in a corner and fell fast asleep.


	4. The Tower of Orthanc

Almostinsane: Thanks for reviewing this story, even if you're the only one doing it. It's a great encouragement. Hope you like this chapter!

* * *

Suddenly the group of eight heard something running towards them.

"Yrch!" Legolas cried in his own language, as they saw a group of about twenty Orcs charging at them.

"Prepare to fight!" Aragorn exclaimed.

Frodo drew Sting from its sheath, as the other hobbits and Gandalf did likewise with their swords and Legolas once again armed his bow and Gimli readied his ax. Legolas quickly shot down two Orcs and Gimli cut off the head of another with a single swipe of his ax. The small army of Orcs was quickly defeated.

"Stay on your guard," Gandalf advised, "Saruman most likely has more in store for us."

Soon the walls of Orthanc were in clear view; but the companions were once again attacked by a group of Orcs, this one larger than the last. The Orcs were nearing defeat when one of them spotted Frodo and began to sneak up on him. Unaware of this, he stayed silently behind Gandalf. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind, a foul Orc hand was clasped over his mouth, and Sting was thrown to the ground. Frodo struggled to get free as the creature hurried to take him into Orthanc.

Finally he managed to get his mouth free and yelled, "Gandalf!" Gandalf whirled around at the sound of Frodo's cry as Aragorn killed the last Orc, but it was too late and he caught only a glimpse of Frodo disappearing into the black doors of Orthanc.

* * *

Frodo was hurried to the room where Saruman sat upon his throne-like chair.

"So here is the maker of so many of my problems," Saruman said once the Orc had left. He stood up and began to approach Frodo who backed away, remembering the time at Bag End when Saruman had tried to kill him. "And here is my chance to get rid of him."

He drew out a knife; and Frodo, backing away quickly, suddenly ran into something.

"Going somewhere?" asked a voice behind him.

Frodo whirled and gasped when he saw that he had run into another wizard, also dressed in white.

"Who… who are you?" Frodo asked, terrified.

"I am Rasuman, brother of Saruman. My mark is the black arrow," the wizard replied with a wicked look on his face and clutched Frodo's shoulders firmly.

Suddenly there was a bang as Gandalf charged through the door with the rest of the company.

"Mr. Frodo!" Sam cried.

"Let him go!" Gandalf commanded.

Rasuman looked afraid, obeyed, quietly backed away, and then ran off.

"Rasuman, you fool!" Saruman shouted after him.

Then he turned and glared at Gandalf, suddenly a gleam came into his eye; and he quickly turned back and threw the knife at Frodo, who flung himself to the ground, barely missing getting hit as he felt the knife brush through his hair. Then Saruman, disappointed at his miss, rushed off after Rasuman.

"Mr. Frodo! Are you all right?" Sam cried as he rushed to his master, who was still lying on the floor, amazed at his narrow escape.

"Oh Sam!" Frodo cried, sitting up and embracing his friend. "Yes, I am fine. But how did you get here? I was beginning to think that it was the end."

"Well," Gandalf began as Merry returned Sting to Frodo, who thanked him and placed it back in its sheath. "I heard your cry when you were captured, and we hurried to look for a second entrance to Orthanc."

"We were disappointed to find that there is no other, unless there is one accessible by the caves," Aragorn continued. "We decided that we had to try breaking into Saruman's front door; and, with the help of a spell or two of Gandalf's, we succeeded. Then we just followed your voices."

"I am glad you could hear us!" Frodo exclaimed, "But now, back to the reason we are here… Where are Bilbo and Elrond? Who knows where Saruman and Rasuman have them hidden!"

The company discussed this for a while; then decided to search the levels below and the one including the room that they were in, as Saruman and Rasuman had run to a stairway leading upstairs; and set out at once.

They soon discovered that there were four floors to search, including the one they started on, and split into groups. Aragorn and Gandalf would search the floor which they started on, Merry and Pippin would take the one below it, Frodo and Sam would explore the next to last floor, and Legolas and Gimli would search the lowest one. They agreed to meet in the room where they began once they had completed their searches, and each group went on their way.

"What do you think we'll find down here?" Pippin asked as he and Merry descended the stairs to their designated floor.

"I don't know," Merry replied, "Wizard stuff, I guess."

They had almost finished their search when they came to an old, wooden door at the end of a long hall.

"I suppose we should look in there, too," Pippin said, not enjoying the thought of doing so.

"Yes, everything must be searched," Merry replied, "Let's go."

"Uh, you can go first," Pippin said.

They opened the door and it gave a loud creak. They peered into the darkness for a moment, and then stepped inside. They jumped as the door slammed shut with a bang behind them.

"Now we've got you!" said an Orc voice from outside the door.

"Let us out!" cried Pippin, banging his fists against the door.

"Ha!" another Orc voice shouted. "You're not going anywhere! Not until Saruman…"

The Orc was stopped in mid-sentence as Aragorn sliced its head off. He and Gandalf soon destroyed the others and let Merry and Pippin out of the room.

"How'd you know we were in trouble?" Merry asked curiously.

"Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, and I we're waiting for you, Frodo, and Sam to come back up when Legolas said that he thought he heard both your and Orc's voices so we came down to make sure you were ok," Gandalf explained.

"What's all the racket?" Sam asked as he and Frodo came up the stairs from the floor below.

"Nothing," Aragorn replied, "But let's get back upstairs before Legolas and Gimli start to wonder what has happened to us."  
When they reached the floor they had started on, Legolas and Gimli were relieved to see them all there and ok.

"You gave us a scare, young hobbits," Gimli told them, after they had heard the story, and ruffled Pippin's hair.

"Well, we're fine now," Merry said with a grin.

"So now we know that Bilbo and Elrond are, obviously, somewhere above this floor," Frodo said, once again the one to bring them back to the reason that they were here.

"Yes, but how are we going to search those floors since Saruman shut and locked the door at the end of the stairs he and Rasuman ran up?" Gimli asked.

"Perhaps we could break that door down also," Aragorn suggested, and they all went to inspect the door's condition.


	5. Reunited

This is the last chapter of the story. Thanks for reading. ) Please review!

* * *

"Where are you, Rasuman?" Saruman shouted as he stormed after his brother.

"Right here," Rasuman replied a bit timidly and came out of a room on the left of the hallway.

"Why in Middle-Earth did you let go of that filthy hobbit's shoulders?" Saruman demanded.

"You would have too!" Rasuman argued, "Don't you know who that was? It was Gandalf!"

"Of course I know who it was, you fool!" Saruman replied.

"What is done is done," Rasuman said, staring at the floor.

"Come," Saruman commanded, "We have work to do."

* * *

"Let's see here," Gandalf murmured to himself, looking at the door. "Doesn't look too sturdy." He pushed on the door, which collapsed without difficulty.

"That was easy," Pippin said.

"Yes, too easy," Legolas remarked as he looked around suspiciously.

"It is getting dark," Aragorn observed. "We should rest here for the night, and in the morning we could search the upper floors."

The rest of the group agreed and, after appointing a guard, fell fast asleep.

To their surprise, the night passed peacefully; but Legolas was still wary about what was going on and advised the others to stay on their guard. They slowly crept up the steps, Gandalf leading the way.

"What was that?" Pippin asked Merry softly.

"Nothing," Merry replied, but he too looked a bit nervous.

They finally reached the end of the stairwell and stepped out into the hall. Suddenly, a band of Orcs jumped out from their hiding places and attacked; but the company had heeded Legolas's advice and was ready for whatever was going to come their way.

"Merry, help!" Pippin cried as he was outnumbered by Orcs.

Merry tried to hurry over to Pippin, but he was too late and an Orc stabbed Pippin in his shoulder. Pippin fell to the ground, screaming in pain, while the Orc lifted his sword for a final blow; but before he could land it, he was shot with one of Legolas' arrows and fell to the ground, dead. They rushed to Pippin's side as they slaughtered the few remaining Orcs.

"How do you feel?" Aragorn asked Pippin, about half an hour later, after he had cleaned the wound.

"All right," Pippin replied as he sat up slowly with a painful expression on his face.

"He should rest for awhile," Gandalf said. "We will stay here for the day and tomorrow we will search for Saruman and our friends."

The next morning Pippin felt much better. His wound had not been too severe and almost all the pain was gone. After breakfast, the company continued their search through Orthanc.

"Over here is another stairway leading upwards," Gimli said a little while later.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Frodo asked, "Let's go!"

The group soon came to the end of the stairs and peered out the door.

"There's an eye-opener and no mistake!" Sam gasped as he stared at the huge, elaborate room.

"Come on," Gandalf said, "We don't have the time to simply stand here."

After searching one hall with no success, the party decided to split up, as there were many rooms to be searched and not much time.

"I think I've found them!" Frodo cried a little later on.

His companions hurried down the hall to where he was.

"Frodo, is that really you?" they heard Bilbo's voice call out from behind the wooden door.

"Yes, of course it's really me!" Frodo replied. "But how are we going to get them out?" he asked, turning to Gandalf.

"Just leave that to me," Gandalf replied with a wink. He pointed his staff at the door, while the rest of the group backed away from it.

"Annon edro hi amen!" Gandalf cried in a commanding voice. The door cracked through the middle and fell to the ground.

"Bilbo!" Frodo cried as he ran to embrace him.

For a while the group talked, answering one another's questions. Suddenly, they heard a noise. They hurried to the door and looked out. There was Saruman and Rasuman with a middle-sized company of Orcs and Uruk-Hai.

"Isn't this so sweet?" Saruman asked mockingly.

"Oh yes. Quite sweet indeed," Rasuman replied.

"Saruman, you are a fool!" Gandalf exclaimed.

"Attack!" Saruman commanded his army, his eyes gleaming with rage.

"Elrond, here!" Aragorn said, handing him a sword.

"Bilbo!" Gandalf shouted, "Stay behind me!"

Bilbo obeyed without arguing and cowered close to Gandalf. They fought fearlessly and were soon almost at the door to the stairs leading downward.

"Saruman," Rasuman whispered, "They're… They're winning. They're getting away! We should run before they get us, too!"

Seeing this, Saruman consented and the two cowardly fled. Frodo and his companions finally reached the steps and were soon outside of Orthanc.

The company collapsed by a group of trees, breathing heavily, as Gandalf made certain that they were all accounted for.

"We thank you for our rescue," Elrond said, as he and Bilbo bowed low.

"We're just glad to have you back!" Frodo replied with a grin.

"We had best be off," Legolas recommended.

"Yes, we have a ways to go," Aragorn said, as he stood up.

"I will get you yet!" they heard Saruman cry angrily from a high window, as they began their journey home.


End file.
